Page 60 of The Girl Who Inherits the Dead

Doesn’t explain why he’s down here, where he can’t escape.

“Does everyone always feel like ass when they do their magic?” Delina asks, and gets the barest hint of a dimple in return. “Cause this sucks.”

“I think anyone who, completely untrained, put as much of themselves into doing some as you did, would feel just as shitty.” He stretches out his legs in front of him, and there’s a scrape on his shin that she didn’t notice when her hand was on him. “You didn’t just bring me back, you apparently tried to fix the entirety of the injury itself.”

“Well yeah,” Delina says, finishing the water bottle and immediately grabbing the other one. “It felt like you would just…die again if I didn’t.”

He raises an eyebrow at her, then shakes his head, and there’s an echo of pain as he did that. “That’s terrifying, and I don’t think you realize this.”

His skin is still paler than it should be, and there are circles under his eyes.

“Is there anything else to eat besides a pop tart?” Delina asks, glancing around the makeshift circle. A duffel bag sits to one side, but she very much does not want to touch something she’s not supposed to.

“Five-hour energy drinks, power bars, a bag of chocolate chips, and some beef jerky,” Maison says. “What, they left their emergency food bag, they didn’t want to spend time cooking something.”

“No, that’s fine, it’s just…” She attempts to push herself up to standing, but her knees wobble and she sits down hard on the concrete floor. “Weird options.”

“When they’re done, Chloe mentioned something about cooking an actual meal, but nobody’s coming into this circle until they’ve finished the wider one.” Maison digs into the duffle bag, tossing her a five-hour energy shot and the bag of chocolate chips.

“There is no way I’m drinking this,” Delina informs him.

“I guarantee you’ll feel better if you do,” he snips back.

“Gross,” Delina says, then opens it anyways. “Aren’t these outlawed in a few states?”

“I mean, they should be,” Maison says, taking one himself and shooting it in one go before coughing at the taste.

Which, of course, tugs at the skin and the ache in his lungs.

“Sorry,” she blurts out, and he raises a single eyebrow at her. “Your lungs hurt.”

Deliberately, he sets the shot to the side, then leans forward. “Delina, and I mean this completely seriously, don’t fucking worry about it.”

She blinks at his word choice.

“The College sent one of their best battle mages to kill you, you literally brought me back from the dead, you almost got yourself killed, I could not give two shits that I’m a bit sore.”

It still bugs at her awareness.

“I’m alive, you’re alive, I could be full of broken bones and I would not care.”

“That’s fair, I guess,” she replies, and stretches, her entire body angry that she was apparently asleep on concrete for a few hours. “Glad we didn’t bring a demon down on us.”

“That’s because we threw you in the car and broke way too many speeding laws getting out of range of the flare you put up,” he says, then, slowly, reaches a hand out to her. “I know you’re still mad that I lied, I know you can’t trust me, but can I please see that you’re alright?” His voice lilts up, suddenly vulnerable, and he swallows that down, his throat moving.

Even in their fights, even in their bad moments and their close calls, she’s never seen him like this.

“Okay,” she says, nervy, and he scoots over to sit next to her, cross-legged. “I feel like shit but I’m okay.”

He rests his hand on his knee, palm facing up, and he’s so close it’s overwhelming.

“Why are you down here, anyways?” Delina asks, before gingerly placing her hand in his.

He inhales, then clears his throat. “In case they couldn’t get the demon traps upstairs set up in time.” He curls his thumb around her palm. “I’m going to do a basic scan on you, it won’t feel like the one Korhonen did on you, it’ll be gentler.”

“Right, because he could tell what I was.”

“What he did is considered very unethical, so you know.” He briefly squeezes her hand, and a warmth spreads through her entire arm. “This is much milder, and if I was actually a demon, I would be able to do this just by glancing at you.”

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